In an October 16, 2009, article in the Boston Globe, staffer Andrea Estes makes the eye-opening assertion that the economy in Massachusetts is "generally improving." Facts and reality suggest otherwise. Consider:

• In 2009 alone, unemployment in Massachusetts has swelled from 7.4% (Jan. 2009) to 9.3% (Sept. 2009).
• "[L]ocal aid to cities and towns [is] already down more than $700 million from the level originally approved in the fiscal 2009 budget, which began in July 2008."
• "[T]ax revenues for the first quarter of the fiscal year came in $212 million lower than expected."
• Estes' article begins, "As many as 2,000 state jobs could be eliminated, Governor Deval Patrick warned yesterday, unless unions agree to concessions necessary to help close an estimated $600 million budget shortfall that could trigger spending cuts throughout state government."